Chaos and Order
by emmbot
Summary: The tale of one Tsukasa Eishi, prolific former first seat of Totsuki with a severe case of culinary ennui. A series of one-shots following his journey in food with his closest friend and partner. Cover image by the vastly talented Otakinu! LATEST: Graduation day - Eishi has plans but Rindou wants him to stay.
1. Chapter 1: Pirarucu

**06:40 – Lima, Peru – Four months after the RDC**

 **It's dawn when she opens her eyes, the sun barely peeking through the horizon to greet the world for the day. Through the windows of their rental near the ourskirts of Lima, Rindou can only just make out the outline of the city skyline, the lush green mountains forming the backdrop beyond. Today, she will drive hours into the wilderness to embark upon the adventure of a lifetime with her best friend.**

She smiles into her blankets, snuggling deeper into the soft, fluffy cushions. Last night's panties lie tangled about her feet, and she wriggles beneath the sheets to tug them on, stifling a yawn. She's not one for rising early, but Eishi is, and the delicious scent of fresh-brewed Colombian coffee and some kind of breakfast is wafting through from their kitchen outside.

Part of her is annoyed that he'd left her alone in bed – in the four months since graduation, she's more than gotten used to having a personal hot-water-bottle ready on hand. Despite his colouring, Tsukasa Eishi is warm as a fresh-baked croissant and just several notches shy of hot as hell.

His lean, muscular arms and densely-packed chest make the perfect cocoon in which to nest. In the short time they've been together, he's only complained about it once, when she'd crawled into his lap and refused to budge for an entire night.

"But you're my pillow," she'd whined each time he'd tried to get up. Eishi, ever the gentleman, had responded in kind with long-suffering sighs.

He's standing at the stove when she pads out into the kitchen wearing his t-shirt from last night. It's large on him, but practically swims on her, no doubt painting a picture of messy chaos. "I'm hungry," She announces.

Eishi chuckles, setting aside his turner in _that very specific and pedantic way_ before walking towards her. She squirms a little as he reaches forward, his fingertips brushing the nape of her neck as he tugs her hair free from inside the stolen shirt. "Yes, yes. Coffee's ready and the shakshuka is about ready too."

"Eishi," She drawls playfully as he kisses her temple. "Will you marry me?"

"Sure," He hands her a steaming cup of coffee – black, with three sugars – then shoves her into one of the barstools by the kitchen island. "Just as soon as you stop making fun of me for sleeping with my socks on."

"I think it's charming," She tells him, and receives a half-exasperated, half-amused look in return.

The shakshuka is still steaming from the oven when he sets it down in front of her along with a basket of pan-browned, buttered toast. She takes in the scent of it, letting out a happy sigh. The eggs are only just set, the yolks runny and a beautiful gold hue – perfect silky and velveteen against the stark, fiery red of the sauce. She dips into the dish with a slice of toast, and her toes curl in delight at the flavours: tomato, herbs, cumin, and a splash of something she can't quite place.

Eishi is watching her over the rim of his mug when she finishes swallowing. "Worcestershire sauce?"

He grins. "I kinda like it."

"Yeah, but that takes away a bit of the—" _Oh_. She bites her lip, her gaze falling to the dish between them. _How the times have changed._

"You're the one who said you wanted to taste more of me." Eishi's mug meets the countertop with a soft clink. He dips his own toast into the dish, takes a bite, and lets out a sigh of contentment. It's soft and sweet, so very unlike the Eishi she'd known from before.

And all of a sudden, she wonders if it's so very wrong, after all, to want to stay – to call off their adventure, to blow off their comrades, and to drag Eishi back to the bedroom, to taste – really taste – him.

"You're giving me that look again," He tells her, startling her back into the present. "Stop looking at me like you're going to eat me up."

She can't help but to grin at that. "Already did that." She pauses for effect. "Last night."

"Oh my god. What are you, fifteen?" Eishi reaches over the countertop to ruffle her hair, barely stifling his own laughter. "Finish your food. We've got a pirarucu to catch."

She notes the soft flush in his cheeks, likely over the memory of last night. Still, she has to admit he does better than her at self-control; the man is unrelenting in his quest to seek new thrills, and has been since the Regiment de Cuisine. She can't say she disapproves – the Regiment had torn down much of his culinary foundation and beliefs, and the road to rebuilding has been thrilling thusfar, a path of chaos she's happy to walk by his side.

So she smiles, nudging his leg with her toes, excitement nipping at her own heels. "Fine," She tells him. "But after we catch that damn fish, you and I are gonna come back here for a repeat performance."


	2. Chapter 2: Anywhere With You

**Anywhere With You**

 **16:28 – Totsuki - Graduation day**

Given the chaos of their final year, Rindou can hardly believe they'd made it at all. And yet here they are, third years no more – fresh-faced newcomers to the real world of cuisine beyond the insulating walls of Totsuki.

She glances over the courtyard, taking in the view of her graduating class. Akanegakubo had made last-day-macarons to share, and somewhere in the crowd of adoring fans, Rindou can just make out the teeny seventeen-year-old, one hand clutching the lurid pink paws of her poor, tortured Bucchi and the other passing out box after pastel-coloured box of treats.

"You know, if you'd told me three months ago that Akanegakubo volunteered to make graduation handouts, I'd have said you'd lost it."

She chuckles, crossing her arms and flipping her hair. Something like pride bristles inside – _I always knew she had it in her_. "I guess we're all a little changed, eh?"

Megishima chuckles dryly, in a way she's come to recognise as _his_ version of affection. "You take care, Kobayashi. I'll see you out there."

"Don't forget to write, ra- _man_."

Megishima's sigh is music to her ears. She watches as he slips away, Saitou in tow – rumour has it the two are looking to become business partners in an exciting new venture, and she's glad for it. The former third seat has never been good at keeping in touch, but at least she knows she can trust Saitou to drag him out for casual meet-ups whenever they're back on the same continent.

In the midst of the gaeity and exuberant celebrations, one silver head in particular is missing in the crowd. By now, she's certain, Eishi will have made his way back to his one-bedroom apartment just ten minutes' walk from Totsuki. All his exquisite kitchenware and appliances will have been packed away, neatly deposited into the respective boxes she knows he's dutifully saved. His bags and other belongings will be waiting by the door in carefully-labelled boxes, and the apartment will have been cleaned out for the next tenant.

There was a little drawer in his kitchen where he'd kept her favourite midnight treats – chocolates and toffees and bags of orange Thai tea that he would sweeten with condensed milk. The thought of it empty saddens her.

She gets to his home just in time to see the movers at work. Wedging herself into the narrow space flush against the stairwell rails, she pauses to let the workers through. A luxurious three-seater Hermes sofa in autumnal orange passes her by, and with it, glimpses of _that_ _night she'd stayed_.

They'd never been more than friends. Over the years, there had been flirtations, hints of a _maybe_ and the promise of a _someday_ – and yet neither of them had ever made good on that. Life with Eishi had been a rollercoaster ride, with days drifting gently into the serene calm of spring before deep-diving into the manic rush of summer. She's loved every moment of it.

It had been the penultimate day of their finals exams. She'd been spending most of her time at his place, the pair of them testing recipes and studying for written theory and accounts and inventory management. He'd fallen asleep that last night, his head upon her lap and the rest of his body sprawled on the couch, textbook over his chest. She'd marvelled at him then, at the way his skin looked deathly pale in sleep, and at the way his cold hands seemed only to confirm it. Her fingers danced across the features of his face, tracing the outline of his jaw, up to the tip, and then bridge of his nose, and then circling the curve of his brows.

Despite his colouring, Tsukasa Eishi had been very much alive. He'd opened his eyes, blinking the fog of sleep from the pale lilac orbs, and for a moment, she had wondered how life beyond Totsuki would be once they were parted – once those eyes were no longer in her life. As if reading her mind, Tsukasa had reached up, lips curled in a faintly reassuring smile even as those icy-cold fingertips brushed her cheek.

They'd spoken nothing of it after, and the days that followed the end of their exams had proceeded to disappear in a flurry.

Eishi is standing by the kitchen island when she finally manages to get up into his mostly-empty apartment. She leaps at him, laughing as he yelps in shock, and then relaxes into his arms once he's gotten it into his head that it's _only Rindou_. "Surprise!"

"How on earth do you surprise someone if you text them to tell them you're coming ahead of time?" Eishi turns around to face her, but his hands linger at her waist, his smile bright. "Sorry I left so quickly – I had some last-minute packing to do."

She peers over his shoulder; the kitchen is spotless, but two cups of tea sit on the marble island countertop. "Oh, you made tea."

Eishi releases her, then turns to nudge one of the cups forward. "Figured you deserve one last cup before we leave for good."

The same unyielding sadness picks at her insides again. _That Aldini boy hit the nail right on the head, didn't he? You were afraid then, and you're still afraid now._ She shakes her head quickly, fighting back the rising panic, then elects to gulp down her tea instead, and burns her throat in the process. "Ow! Ugh. What time's your flight?"

"Two hours. And then it's off to L'Arpege and the tutelage of Chef Passard." Eishi quirks a smile. Anxiety lingers in his face; she can see it in the strain of his beautiful eyes, and in the slightly forced upwards tug of his lips. "I can't believe we made it."

"I can," She tells him, and is glad to see his smile deepen.

As it always does with Eishi, time passes in the blink of an eye. The tea is drunk and goodbyes are made alongside promises to text daily and visit monthly. She hands him a sheet of crumpled paper, and is delighted to see his eyes brighten in laughter at the title: **Rindou's Rules that I, Tsukasa Eishi, promise to follow.**

When he kisses her forehead, she near sinks to her feet. The last goodbye is whispered, the words barely perceptible in the charged air between them – best friends of years, and a love to endure the separation to follow.

The sight of Eishi's back as he walks away sends a thousand knives into her heart. He's barely made it two paces from the door before she cries out, his name on her lips pure technicolour in a world of white and grey. He turns around, and her throat constricts.

 _Say something._

She clenches her fists, swallowing hard. "I—I just—"

The silence is deafening. It strikes her then just how ironic it is – the explorer of cuisines, tongue-tied in the face of a fresh start with someone she loves. _Pathetic._

Eishi studies her face for what seems like forever. Then finally, he sighs, and his backpack falls to the floor with a soft thump. "Rindou, you and I both know what you're _really_ afraid of. And I am, too, you know – afraid of being without you. Just say so if you want me to stay."

She gapes stupidly at him, his words an unintelligable blur in her mind. But the sentiment is clear as day: _he knows. Surely he knows._

"Stay, then." She swallows again, and meets his eyes. "Stay. Tell Passard you have other plans and stay." A pregnant pause follows, as she musters up the courage to commit. "With me."

Eishi shakes his head, part exasperation and part amusement. She knows now what it means, and when he opens his arms up to her, she doesn't hesitate to tackle him into the wall. It seems forever before they come up for air, and she can still taste his lips on hers – cream and sugar and the mild tartness of the tea. He quirks a sheepish smile, pallid cheeks flushing even as his forehead sinks down onto her own.

"So," He says, his voice light – as if they hadn't just shared the most intense of first kisses – "Where are we going?"

She grins. "Peru."


End file.
